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Topic: Pizza photos from a new guy to the forum (Read 3016 times)

I'm a DIY'er. I love to cook, brew beer, build vacuum tube musical equipment, garden, do woodworking and carpentry, among a variety of other hobbies and vocations. In recent months, I've began making pizza a couple times a week. I look forward to making my own mozzarella - a process that appears to be quite accessible and requires little specialized tools and ingredients.

Like many of us, I've been a pizza fanatic for as long as I can remember eating it. In fact, for my first "job" at age 8 - distributing fliers for a pizzeria in west Baltimore - I was paid in pizza and Coke. For a poor kid who couldn't buy pizza himself, it was well-enjoyed compensation. As the years went by, several fond pizza moments have nestled themselves in my memory and have contributed to what my senses consider "ideal" pizzas. While it is a natural motivation to want to chase these idealizations of the perfect pie, I am a lover of all styles of pizza and look forward to making them all.

I haven't been in the habit of taking photos of my pies and the ones posted here aren't too clear, but in the spirit of participating, I'm posting them. They were taken two weeks ago. I made several pizzas that night. These are 18" pies - pepperoni and ham and capicola, which was requested by a coworker. Since these photos were taken, my technique has improved and knowledge broadened, which has resulted in both worse pies and better pies. Not all learning is accompanied by improvement .

I change the percentages and procedure every time I make dough. I'm also trying longer fermentation periods when I can. I'm beginning to learn how changes affect the outcome. When I can spare the cash, I am going to purchase Encyclopizza.

I've read on this forum, from Peter possibly, that All Trumps does not respond well to reballing. I recently I tried reballing 6 hours before baking and it did not turn out well. The dough was very soft, elastic and nearly impossible to form without tearing. Perhaps I did not let it rest long enough after reballing, but this was the result I experienced after a 6 hour rest.

Welcome Adam. Those are some beautiful looking pizzas there. Do you work in a professional kitchen of some kind? I see lots of stainless steel in your photos. I've had good results with AllTrumps flour in the past, cold fermented for anywhere from 2 to 7 days or more, and never felt the need to re-ball.

Yes, I cook at a Tavern 2 days a week. Pizza is not on the menu, but I have taken it upon myself to offer pizza on Tuesday nights. It's drawn quite a crowd! The only pizza that's been available around here is made with pre-fab frozen crust and is no better than what comes from the grocery store freezer. Once the word got out about "real" pizza being made where I work on Tuesdays, it became very popular very quickly.

The restaurant has two small pizza ovens but no stand mixer. I've been using a 6 quart Kitchenaid. It takes a long time to make enough dough for one night. I'd love to have access to even a 20 quart Hobart. I'd open my own shop if I had the capitol.

I try to give my dough 2 days in the cooler. I'm going to try longer periods in the near future.

All Trumps is very nice flour. It's so strong that I have had a habit of spinning my pies out to almost windowpane thickness, which is certainly pleasant to eat but I have suspicion that it's the reason that my cheese is boiling before the outer crust is browned.

Aside from the one time I tried reballing, the All Trumps dough very rarely rips, even when being stretched paper thin. The taste is also very good. It also comes in unbleached and unbromated varieties. I have only tried the bleached and bromated variety.

I noticed that you live in Lancaster county. The All Trumps I use comes from Restaurant Depot in Manayunk. I've never been there, but that's where the owner of the restaurant where I work purchases All Trumps, among other items. Have you shopped there?

My dough balls typically have weighed around 20 ounces for an 18" pie. My peel is 18" and sometimes I end up tossing them a little large and have to use an unformed pizza box as a peel, which works great, by the way. I have been using the Lehmann calculator for over a month now.

I prefer 18" pies to 16". When cut into 8 slices, the size just feels right for a slice of NY style pizza. It folds nicely and there is a nice area of cheese and sauce before getting to the "bones". I haven't eaten any pizza in the city, but have had plenty of upstate NY and 'Jersey pizza, which appear quite similar to me.

I'm in northern PA. The owner of the restaurant where I work shops at restaurant depot. I've spen a lot of time in Philadelphia, but have not been to Restaurant Depot. I'd like to know what they stock, but their website does not give any info other than weekly specials.